Landon Pigg/Madi Diaz; June 10, 2010; High Noon Saloon

It isn’t always the music that convinces me to go to a show; there are additional factors that figure into the formula. In the case of Landon Pigg, his music was around third on the list. At the top of the list was how adorable he had been in Whip It, the roller derby movie directed by Drew Barrymore. He played Ellen Page’s love interest, who’s also in a band, natch. They meet cute and even though he turns out to be pretty much a complete jerk, I was still watching for his name in the credits. I learned he was actually a musician shortly after that, so when a show at the High Noon was announced I wrote it on the calendar, even though I still hadn’t heard his music. I had the next day off and nothing better to do, so I listened to the stuff on his MySpace page that day. Not amazing, but quite certainly listenable. Even so, I was still on the fence. When I found out that the High Noon’s gruff but lovable bartender who hates most everything was working that night I knew I had to go.

I expected it to be one of those shows were the only people I knew were the staff. What I didn’t expect was that everyone else would be a chubby college girl between the age of 18 and 24. There was definitely some small scale but quite certainly sincere teen idol worship going on here, from the squeals of “Landon!!” when he emerged from the bathroom before his set to the way they crowded to the front of the stage while he played. His band was equally lovable, but I am pretty sure none of them noticed. Like the MySpace page his live set was quite definitely listenable. The “hit” “Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop” was endearing, it’s puppy love overtones and utter sincerity making it irresistible. Unfortunately he didn’t play what I had thought to be the best of the tunes “Dressed to Kill,” regrettably he did play his track “Darling I Do” from the Shrek Forever soundtrack. All the money he is going to make from its placement doesn’t change the fact that it was a pretty dreadful song.

The night went as expected; our surly bartender friend hated it. We were facing the stage on a couple of occasions when we heard the unmistakable clunk of shot glasses on the bar behind us- his way of dealing with music that isn’t his thing. Admittedly, I still have no idea what his thing is since he seems to hate everything. Sometimes it’s fun to see a show you aren’t invested in. Tonight was one of those nights, I’m glad I went.

One Man Band Night; June 8, 2010; The Wisco
Roboman


Asumaya



Daniel Francis Doyle

The Hussy/Wheels on Fire/The Honeyslides/Nestor; June 7, 2010; High Noon Saloon

If you had told me that would be a girl in every band tonight and that I would like them all, I would have told you that was crazy talk. It’s not that I dislike all girl singers; it’s just that more often than not that is the case. I already knew how much I enjoyed Heather, the Hussy’s hard hitting drummer who also mans the kit for the Honeyslides, but I had no idea how much I would like Wheels on Fire’s bouncy keyboard player and Nestor’s gorgeous-voiced lead singer.

In fact, based on their name I expected local band Nestor to be terrible. Unfair I know, but often you can judge a band by its name. I’d never heard of them before, and only one of their members looked even vaguely familiar, but they were surprisingly good and obviously practiced. The voice fronting the band was the key, there weren’t a lot of vocals but they were hypnotic and hard-hitting at the same time. I look forward to seeing them again. Hopefully this isn’t a one and done band. The Honeyslides had become more a legend than a band in my mind. They’d played their first gig toward the end of last year on an almost identical bill that substituted the Hemlines for Nestor, but only a handful since, none of which I had managed to attend. They weren’t necessarily a revelation, but it was some genuine, hook-filled power pop, a typical Matt Joyce band powered by Heather’s awe-inspiring drumming.

Wheels on Fire from Athens OH was the only out of town band on the bill, and I got the feeling that this show and last October’s similar bill had been set up just to support them, which after seeing them seems a very worthy cause. Their slick pop was instantly likeable and incessantly catchy. Handsome lead singer Michael Chaney had a magnetic stage presence, but it was keyboard player Susan Musser that really got my attention. In her rolled-up jeans and sneakers she seemed to be having the time of her life, out of the spotlight and totally intent on the music. She was awesome. The Hussy finished the night with another powerful leave-em-wanting-more short set. Heather’s furious pounding and charming willingness to belt the songs out with conviction even though she doesn’t have the best voice ever are the best part of the set, but it wouldn’t work without Bobby’s frantic guitar wailing and dueting voice. On paper it doesn’t seem like it would work, but on stage it most certainly does.

Nestor



The Honeyslides





Wheels on Fire




The Hussy

Houses in Motion; June 4, 2010; High Noon Saloon

It’s hard to know what came first for Houses in Motion, the desire to start a Talking Heads cover band or meeting a guy that sounds just like David Byrne. I almost imagine it had to be the latter, and I can imagine the ensuing conversation. “Dude, you sound just like David Byrne, we should start a Talking Heads cover band!” “Really, I do? OK, I’m in.” Luckily, the first statement would have come from one of the members of Czarbles, an always impressive local instrumental band, who already had all the pieces in place to make it happen. And they’ve done the same with Sabra Cadabra, their Black Sabbath cover band. Though I haven’t heard them, so I don’t know if that dude sounds just like Ozzy Osbourne.

There are two points of genius in this project. The first is that they don’t play very often, so when they do it’s an event. Their shows frequently sell out the spacious High Noon, a feat not often accomplished by a local band. There was plenty of space when the evening began, but by the end of the night the floor was crowded with dancers. The second is that they stick to early Talking Heads material, meaning that I didn’t recognize a whole lot of it. Of course I knew “Psycho Killer” and “Once in a Lifetime,” but “Burning Down the House” was probably the most recent song they played. I am actually a big fan of later material like Little Creatures and True Stories, but that is sort of a guilty pleasure.

They arranged the night chronologically. The first set consisted of the earliest material played by the four piece band (Czarbles plus the dude who sounded just like David Byrne). The second set moved into later recordings and added female backing vocalists and extra musicians. The problem was that all the extra folks just cluttered up the music. The girls didn’t really have amazing voices, so it was hard to understand why were there. Since I never saw the Talking Heads live, you know, other than their Stop Making Sense movie, which doesn’t really count, I’m already looking forward to Houses in Motion’s next show. Even though it may be a year from now.

Simon Joyner/Theodore; May 29, 2010; Kiki’s House of Righteous Music

During my first years in Madison a friend who was a grad student in another lab used to make me mix tapes. Despite the fact that he had gaping holes in his general musical knowledge, he knew more about indie music than anyone I knew. His tastes ranged from the obscure to the unknown, as he liked to put it, and he set about educating me through these tapes. The only reason he knew the Beatles “Dear Prudence” is because it had been covered by Siouxsie & the Banshees, the Allman Brothers “Jessica” a result of a B side by They Might Be Giants, but he had everything the Mountain Goats had recorded by that point, most of it released on cassette tapes, not to mention a good chunk of Daniel Johnston’s catalog in the same format. It wasn’t all good, I had to fast forward every Beat Happening song he ever included (oddly enough, I dug Calvin Johnson’s other band Dub Narcotic Soundsystem also on these collections), and he wouldn’t stop with the whiny girl singers even though he was totally aware of my aversion to them.

Even so, some very good things came of it. I grew to love the Mountain Goats and the number of their CDs I own is only second to Bob Dylan. It was the first place I heard great bands like Superdrag and Camper Van Beethoven, and a songwriter named Simon Joyner. His “One for the Catholic Girls” was an immediate favorite on “Behold! I Shall Do a New Thing” (the tapes always had cryptic titles), being a Catholic girl and all. The first time I was supposed to see him was with the Mountain Goats at the Empty Bottle, but he had to cancel. The second time was on a bill with Conor Oberst at Schubas. The fact that Oberst was playing at Schubas illustrates how long ago that was. Then he disappeared off my radar. He hadn’t stopped making records; he had just stopped touring, tiring of the club scene. To promote his ’09 release Out into the Snow he decided to hit the road again, this time eschewing bars in favor of living rooms and art galleries, places where folks would actually listen to his graceful songs.

He ended up at the House of Righteous Music thanks to my friend Ryan Hembrey, who has played the basement and played on Joyner’s records. Remembering that long ago Schubas show and that song that Ken had put on a tape, I jumped at the chance to host him. I bought Snow and listened to it repeatedly, his voice occasionally reminding me of Dylan even as his delightfully deadpan voice tried to hide it. He didn’t do much from that record in the course of his 60 minute set, favoring the rest of a catalog I didn’t realize had grown so extensive. His audience of fans couldn’t have been more excited. Since he hasn’t toured for so long, people were moved to go out of their way to attend the show.

One young guy had driven from Eagle River WI, arriving so early I invited him to join us for dinner, another trio came from Chicago after their attempt to see his Peoria show had been thwarted. They stopped by that afternoon just to make sure they had the right place, they weren’t going to take the chance that they would miss him again. At the end of the set we convinced him to play one more song, and “Catholic Girls” was suggested. Everyone agreed it was the best song of the night, too bad my tape had run out only minutes before. A few days later he e-mailed me to say that if every house concert was like playing at my house, he would tour more. I’m in favor of that.

The last time Theodore had played the house they had gotten a phone call that day asking if they would like to play a house concert with Simon Joyner in their home town of St Louis. Somewhere in the middle of that disastrous night I suggested that they should come back and open for him at my house. Partially because I always want them to play, but mostly because I wanted someone to actually see them here. I thought it was drunk talk, but when I e-mailed them a few days later, they were still excited about it. Simon had missed their show in Omaha, but had heard nothing but good things about them and was in favor of the idea. “We’re hear to see Simon Joyner too,” lead singer Justin admitted halfway through their set, to which I responded, “they just wanted to get in free.” “Hey, ain’t no shame,” he drawled with a smile.

It turned out to be a perfect match. Their multi-instrumental tales of woe were the perfect lead-in to Simon’s sad sack tunes. JJ and Andy continue to amaze me with the number of instruments at their disposal, though the songs using accordion, horns and especially saw always seem to be my favorites. Sadly there was no banjo tonight, though that’s the only thing I can even think to complain about. Even though Hold You Like a Lover was just released earlier this year, the set consisted mostly of new songs, each one as good as any they’ve released. I couldn’t stop smiling. When I introduced them at the beginning of the show, I claimed I was sticking by my pronouncement that they were best band out of Missouri. That may or may not be true, but it would be hard to find a band that makes me happier.

Theodore









Simon Joyner & the Parachutes

Mic Harrison & the High Score; May 28, 2010; Quencher's, Chicago